Posted by Henry Riggs
a resident of Menlo Park: Suburban Park/Lorelei Manor/Flood Park Triangle
on Jan 10, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Henry Riggs is a registered user.

No surprise we will be asked to extend the 9.0% sales tax in June. But given the profligate spending and insider priorities that have become the norm in Sacramento, the voters will not be eager to support the status quo - including government salaries, work rules and benefits negotiated in the "new economy" era of fantasy budgeting. Like a household that took out every credit card offered in the mail and ran them up to max, our so called leaders have been flat irresponsible, largely with unfundable pension promises to state employees.

Personally, I wouldn't vote for new taxes until AFTER I've seen reform completed in Sacramento; if Mr Brown and friends want a majority of voters to underwrite the bad behavior of state government past, we at the minimum deserve assurances that we are not just propping up the system that got us into this budget disaster: extending the "temporary" taxes must be conditioned on the successful restructuring of current state employee costs. (What Governor Schwartzenegger negotiated in October is only for new hires.) I'll add that, if a special election is called and fails, the millions of dollars it costs to hold that election will be on Mr Brown's shoulders.